Posted by Dani Wade Nov 16 2012, 12:01 am in characterization, Karmic Consultants, paranormal romance, Ruby Release, Vivi Andrews
Have you ever gotten so involved in a world of characters that you feel like you could sit down for dinner with them? Well, I had the privilege of reading fellow Ruby Sister Vivi Andrew’s new addition to the KARMIC CONSULTANTS series, FINDER’S KEEPER (Book 6). And I could swear that this Sunday I’m having dinner with the Corregiani family so I can watch even more of their antics! But instead I’ll just have a lovely little visit with Vivi – and y’all get to join us!
Dani: I’ve yet to see 2 characters so diametrically opposed to each other as Mia and Chase—the workaholic versus the slacker—who appear on the surface to be opposites in every way. Yet their happily ever after feels very right! Did the nature of their differences make finding their common ground harder?
Vivi: I love opposites attract stories. Who better to open our eyes to a new way of seeing the world than someone who looks at it from such a completely different viewpoint? Chase and Mia do have a lot of ground to cover to find a way to meet in the middle, but the fact that they’re able to fill in the gaps in one another’s lives makes them the perfect team. Some readers have compared Mia to Brennan from Bones or Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory and Chase is able to be her bridge to a less intellectually focused world, while Mia is able to ground him.
Dani: For a book written in your trademark humorous style, this story tackles a pretty heavy subject: the opposition between scientific and magical belief systems. The woman who wishes she could make her family forget their dependence on a “charmed” watch, and the man who will use his psychic powers to find the watch after she loses it. Where did the ideas for Mia’s way of thinking and Chase’s rebuttals originate? Any real life experience thrown in there?
Vivi: You know, I wasn’t consciously pulling anything from real life, but my sister (to whom I dedicated the book) is a fiercely serious scientist and my brother was the kind of smooth-talker who could make the most skeptical among us believe in magic (not unlike Chase). I suppose hearing my siblings bickering all those years growing up has finally paid off in Chase & Mia’s banter. 
Dani: The characters in FINDER’S KEEPER are delightfully unique – a true scientist who views the world on a detailed, analytical level and an extremely laid back hero. Yet the more we get to know Chase and all he’s been through, the more his choices make us fall in love with him. Then we have Mia’s crazy Italian family and the traditions that keep them close. Characterization is an incredible strength in your stories! Any suggestions for the writers out there on how to make those characters come alive?
Vivi: Thank you! My characters always feel like real people to me, alive inside my head, so I’m delighted to hear that some of that translated to the page. Unfortunately I’m not sure I have any fabulous tips on characterization. I guess the trick is to never make your characters do something in service of the plot. To always let them be themselves and build the story around that truth.
Dani: Our readers might be familiar with your wandering lifestyle (we Rubies get to live vicariously through your frequent travels). Will you share a little about your most recent trip? What was your favorite part?
Vivi: I am a certifiable travel junkie. My latest trip was actually pretty close to home (compared to Egypt, China, New Zealand, and some of my other adventures). I recently spent a good chunk of time in rural New England and Quebec – hiking and enjoying the fall foliage people had been telling me so much about – but my absolute favorite part of the trip was my very first ever flying trapeze lesson! There’s a trapeze school in Bostonand I treated myself to a lesson as a reward when I finished my latest manuscript. I flew! (And afterward I ached in muscles I didn’t remember I had.) The experience was amazing. Highly recommended. You can bet I’ll be back dangling from that bar soon, jumping off the platform when they yell “Hup!”
Dani: You are an incredibly prolific writer! With 3 novels, 12 novellas, and 1 short story on store shelves, I know you have even more in the works. What’s on the horizon for you? Any chance we might get to see Karma’s story (head of Karmic Consultants in the Karmic Consultants series)?
Vivi: Funny you should ask, since I just heard (breaking news!) that Karma’s book, Naughty Karma, will have a Fall 2013 release to close out the KC series. (Woot!) Now that I’ve delivered the last Karmic book, I’m exploring some new series ideas and considering heading in a shiny new direction. On to the next adventure!
Today let’s talk our favorite “opposites attract” stories! What are the two characters whose banter and push/pull interactions you’ve most enjoyed? What did the author do to make their relationship funny or sexy without simply being antagonistic?
About FINDER’S KEEPER:
Love isn’t a science. It’s pure chemistry.
Karmic Consultants, Book 6
True love? For neuroscientist Dr. Mia Corregianni, it’s just an unproven hypothesis. But when she loses the heirloom watch her family believes is enchanted with a potent love spell, she fights superstition with superstition by hiring a psychic finder to track it down.
Chase Hunter is a human compass, homing in on whatever the seeker wants most—that is, when he isn’t surfing or actively avoiding anything resembling a real human attachment. Such has been his life since an accident took his family.
Unfortunately, Mia’s case isn’t a simple insta-Find. The catch? To disguise his real mission from her romance-crazy family, he has to pretend to be her boyfriend. He could deal with that if her complicated emotions weren’t blocking his abilities—or if her innermost desires weren’t walloping him upside the head every time he opens himself to his gift.
As the case wears on, their fake romance begins to feel all too real. Scary stuff for a man who’s reluctant to let himself live again. And a woman who doesn’t believe in magic…or love.
Warning: This book contains meddling grandmothers, magic watches, and a surfer with a body so hot it can teach any scientist the true meaning of chemistry.
FINDER’S KEEPER can be found at Amazon, B&N, and Samhain.
Keep up with Vivi’s upcoming releases and exciting adventures through her website!
Posted by Sara Ramsey May 3 2012, 12:01 am in author interview, new releases, Ruby Release, Vivi Andrews, writing romance
I’m thrilled and delighted to host the release party for Superlovin’, the latest novella from Vivi Andrews. Vivi shared an advance copy of this book with me, and I ADORED it…and then kept trying to recommend it to people who were looking for things to read, only to be reminded that it still wasn’t out.
But now it *is* out, and you can find out how amazing it is for yourself! Superlovin’ is all about an evenly matched superhero and supervillain who have to get over their preconceived notions (and their own reputations) to recognize that they just may be perfect for each other. It’s fast-paced, fun, and thought-provoking, and I loved every second of it.
Enough gushing from me, though — you’re here to see Vivi. Even though she’s holed up in her secret lair in Cannes (lucky woman), she took the time to respond to a few of my questions (which let me pretend to be an intrepid newspaper reporter – every superhero story needs one of those, right?). And if you leave a comment, you have a chance to win an ebook of Superlovin’!
Sara: What drew you to superheroes after spending so much time with your more paranormal-tinged Karmic Consultants series?
Vivi: I don’t think of them as so very different – psychic powers and super powers. The super world really is just turning up the volume and taking everything to the extremes, and I do love me some extremes. I’ve always loved superhero stories – good versus evil! With great power comes great responsibility! – and so when my editor put out a call for superhero stories, it seemed like the perfect time to try my hand at writing one. And I got addicted. I absolutely love playing in the super gene pool.
Sara: I love how you played with traditional superhero tropes – particularly the idea that people get typecast as ‘good’ or ‘evil’ and then can’t shake their reputations (deserved or not). What was your inspiration for these characters?
Vivi: I’m totally fascinated by the Good Guy/Bad Guy polarity and the PR maneuvering that goes into public perception. Yeah, Superlovin’ is a romance about superheroes, but I wanted it to also be about the grey areas. Lucien and Darla are both legacy supers – their parents are famous… or in Lucien’s case, infamous. As I was playing with the idea, I couldn’t stop wondering what life would be like as the kid of a supervillain… or the daughter of the world’s most famous superhero power couple. How much choice would you have about who you grew into? How long would you fight against being typecast before giving in to your inevitable role? How would a super kid rebel? The odd blend of celebrity and righteous crime-fighting duty was just too tempting to ignore.
Sara: Lucien and Darla are so evenly matched – it’s really refreshing to see a hero and heroine who can match each other. They fight each other rather aggressively while trying to meet their goals, which I haven’t seen in a lot of romances – the only scenes I could think of that would come close are in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” (and just to be clear, I adored both that movie and this book!). Did your editor or beta readers have any issues with the hero and heroine’s fight scenes?
Vivi: Dude. I LOVE Mr. and Mrs. Smith. And you know, none of my betas or editors seemed to have a problem with the fact that Darla and Lucien wale on each other. It probably helps that the two of them are pretty much impervious to harm so the beat down is all chaos, no bruises. Interestingly, one advanced reviewer was bothered by the fact that Darla is initially very superficially attracted to Lucien’s mega-strength (though she said I pulled it out in the end, despite her initial reservations). But nope, so far no one has been wigged out by the fight scenes. At least not that I’ve heard about.
Sara: Superlovin’ was tightly plotted and well-crafted, and I didn’t feel like it was missing anything – a feat that not all novellas (or novel-length works!) achieve. I’m in awe at how you get such a tight, cohesive story into a novella-length work. Any tips for those of us who struggle to write short?
Vivi: Thank you! I try not to think of it as cramming a whole book into a novella. Writing short to me is an opportunity, not a limitation. An opportunity to write a more tightly focused story – really zeroing in on the hero and heroine. Or an opportunity to skip the parts that I don’t feel like writing. 
You can’t wander with a novella. Each scene has to have a purpose – preferably two or three purposes. It’s a great way to force yourself to stay focused as a writer, knowing you only have so many words to tell the story you want to tell. Big stories need big books, but not all love stories are massive and epic. I think of novellas as pocket-sized romances.
Sara: I’m super jealous of your current escapades – spending a few weeks in Europe sounds way fun. How do you balance your writing with your amazing traveling lifestyle?
Vivi: It’s easier than you might think. And it probably helps that I’m a compulsive list-maker. Mostly, I just bring my little mini laptop with me everywhere and when I feel like I’m falling behind on writing tasks I’ll take an apartment for a week or a month to get myself caught up and then I’m off again. Right now I’ve got a cute little apartment in Cannes to use as my home base during release week (and do laundry) then next week I’m off to Italy – with plans to work on edits on the train. I’m a lucky brat.
Sara: What’s coming out next? More superheroes, or something else? Is Lucien’s sister Mirabelle going to get her story?
Vivi: Yes! There are more superheroes on the way – including Mirabelle’s story, Superbad, which will hit ereaders in July – but in the mean time, just next month actually, I have a sexy reboot of Rumpelstiltskin coming out called Spinning Gold, in which the prince is the villain and a studly gold-spinner steps in to save the fair maiden. Not your everyday once upon a time.
Sara: I cannot wait for Spinning Gold! Or for Superbad, but I’ll take whatever I can get as soon as possible
Vivi, thanks for answering these questions!
And now, here’s an excerpt from Superlovin’:
He heard the distant electrical whine of a train coming down the tracks. Three minutes, give or take…
Lucien let the icy-hot pain starting to spike in his temples show on his face. “I could come quietly,” he said, making his voice tight with strain. “For a price.”
“I don’t negotiate with supervillains.”
“Not even for my surrender? My complete surrender.”
Interest lit her up-tilted emerald eyes, but her jaw remained clenched in an unyielding line. “No deals. I won’t bribe you to play nice when you’ve already lost.”
“But all I wanted was a kiss.”
She went motionless above him, as if she’d forgotten the need to breathe.
“One little kiss,” he purred. “And I’ll go meekly to my jail cell. No tricks. No trouble.”
He couldn’t read her expression. Something odd and almost hopeful colored the suspicion in her gaze. She hesitated. The train rattled closer. Her fingers eased their death grip on his hair.
“Why?”
“Are you kidding? I’ve always wanted a shot at the great Darla Powers. Who hasn’t? That Maxim spread changed my life.”
Her eyes darkened. “That damn magazine—”
“Hey, don’t damn that magazine. I could compose sonnets to that magazine. Especially your issue. I think you single-handedly launched a generation of twelve-year-old boys into puberty with that spread.” The picture had become a cultural icon. Darla Powers, the super answer to Marilyn Monroe. “Tell me you still have the bustier and I’ll die happy.”
She blushed. “That is none of your business.”
Dear God, she still has it. Unwholesome interest stirred below Lucien’s belt. He’d been joking, but now he couldn’t get the image out of his head. Her incredible figure overflowing the snug black lace with a shimmering red D curled under one breast in a parody of her suit. Maybe she still wore it. Maybe she put it on for the schmuck boyfriend who’d let her walk out on their date. Jealousy gave his gut an ugly twist, but he ignored it. She wasn’t with her schmuck boyfriend now.
“One kiss,” he said, the words coming out as more of a demand than he’d intended, his voice so dark and hungry he barely recognized it. “One kiss and I’ll do whatever you want.”
The words were supposed to be a lie, but at the moment he almost believed them himself. Darla Powers was a woman who could own a man’s soul if she put her mind to it. If she could let herself be that bad…
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Hot, right?! Comment to win an ebook! And thanks again, Vivi!
If you can’t wait to buy Superlovin’, it’s available on Kindle, Nook, or at Samhain.com. Go! Go now!
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Sara Ramsey writes fun, feisty Regency romances. Her latest book, SCOTSMEN PREFER BLONDES, is out now, and features a secret Gothic romance novelist and the earl she’s forced to marry (because nothing says love like being compromised). To find out more about her books, visit www.sararamsey.com.
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